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Source: Casteleyn, J. & Mottart A. (2010). Slidecast yourself. Exploring the possibilities of a new online presentation tool,
International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings 2010, 255-261.
Slidecast Yourself Exploring the possibilities of a new presentation toolJordi Casteleyn & Andr Mottart
Many educational theorists stress the importance of social aspects for effective learning. In communities of
practice for instance, groups of practitioners might learn from each other and eventually constitute a shared
identity. Web 2.0 provides an ideal opportunity for this. An example of such a Web 2.0 information technologyis slidecasting, which can be described as podcasting by synchronizing PowerPoint and voice. Anyone can
upload their slidecasts to a website with an interface similar to YouTube, and anybody can watch these
products. However, there is limited research on this topic, its possible application in education and its
popularity in businesses. We therefore studied the educational implications of introducing slidecasting in the
classroom, sent a survey to our students to detect their attitude towards this new teaching tool, and organised
a focus group with communication professionals. We can conclude that slidecasting can be successful in
education, but that it will not immediately gain access to the corporate world due to problems concerning
confidentiality and the very nature of slidecasting.
Keywords: slidecasting, Web 2.0, education, presentations.
Source: Casteleyn, J. & Mottart A. (2010). Slidecast yourself. Exploring the possibilities of a new online
presentation tool, International Professional Communication Conference Proceedings 2010, 255-261.
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1. Web 2.0 as a community of practice
A recurring challenge for technical communication educators is to produce real-life assignments, as the
situated learning theory stresses that the learning process will improve if the students are confronted with
authentic and/or realistic learning environments [1, p. 306]. Moreover, certain educational theorists, for
instance Tripp [2, p. 306], argue that this environment should also be interpreted as a social context. In these
communities of practice (a term coined by Lave and Wenger [3]) it should be possible for students tocollaborate with experts, support each other and eventually develop their personal and professional identity.
On his personal website, Etienne Wenger [4] describes these communities of practice as groups of people
who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact
regularly, and lists three crucial characteristics. First, these communities constitute an identity that is defined
by a shared domain of interest. This shared competence separates the members of a community from other
people. Second, the notion of community implies that people interact with each other, learn from each other
and eventually build relationships with each other. Finally, the second part of the term community of practice
is also essential. The members of such a community are practitioners and develop a common framework that
every member draws upon or refers to.
If we define Web 2.0 as the more open, personalized, participative and social version [5] of the former
Web, then it can be the virtual equivalent of these communities of practice. For instance, the business-
oriented website LinkedIn is aimed at building networks with contacts who have similar job positions, andencourages exchanging information among members of these professional groups, which can lead to a shared
knowledge of business practices. Of course, this view upon Web 2.0 as a community of practice could also be
fruitful for education and could increase the efficiency of existing learning practices. Some educators are
perhaps apprehensive of Web 2.0 because it is simply too provisional, unpredictable and uncontrollable to be
marshaled for traditional learning [5]. This paper will try to counter these assumptions by providing extra
information about the implementation of this social software.
2. Slidecasting as a Web 2.0 community of practice
A less-known example of such a Web 2.0 teaching tool is slidecasting, which could be described as
podcasting by synchronising PowerPoint and voice. Previously, this technology was mainly used by educators
in e-lectures, but since mid 2007 websites like SlideShare (www.slideshare.net) have made the production
process much more user-friendly, which has broadened its use to professionals and students. The software
needed to create such a slidecast can be found on the average computer, and almost every type of file used as
visual aids for a presentation is supported by the website. The slidecast itself can also be forwarded, paused
and stopped at any time.
Furthermore, these websites have become a real-life online community of practice. These virtual
presentations can be freely accessed, and the user interface enables showing appreciation for a slidecast,
commenting on it, befriending the producer of it, etc. By tagging your slidecast with several keywords and
choosing a category it belongs to, you deliberately place yourself in a community of practice where members
call on similar knowledge, but of course, the final success of such a community depends on the quantity and
quality of the contributions of its members.
3. Researching slidecasting
Although there is a treasury grove of information on presentations, the published research on slidecasting
focuses primarily on e-learning. Griffin, Mitchell & Thompson [6] give empirical evidence that synchronizedaudio and video are more effective than the provision of separate media items containing the same
information. However, they fail to mention more details about this new genre, nor do they refer to slidecasting
by students. Moreover, the identity issue is not extensively covered by academic literature, although recent
research (for example Casteleyn et al. [7]) has indicated that this aspect takes a central position in Web 2.0
products and their interpretation. The performance and construction of identity online are ultimately a social
phenomenon, which shows the relationship between Web 2.0 and communities of practice.
Furthermore, slidecasting might also provide pedagogical benefits. Research by Mottart and Casteleyn hints
at this [8], but there is little empirical evidence. Finally, perceptions of students about e-lectures are mostly
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quite positive, and despite the mixed results from earlier research it could also be proven that it provides an
educational advantage [Cramer, Collins, Snider, and Fawcett in: 9]. On the other hand, although both
educators and students are willing to use the full potential of social software, internet for educational purposes
mostly still seems to be limited to searching information and communication. [10] In addition, research by
Burke and James [11] seems to suggest that a new teaching technology is positively regarded when students
perceive it as novel, but no data can be found about student attitudes towards producing slidecasts
themselves.
Based on this literature overview, this paper will concentrate on three topics:
The slidecast as a teaching tool: What are its possible pedagogical benefits? How could the onlinecommunity of practice affect the performance of the students?
Students attitude towards slidecasting: How do students perceive this? The slidecast as an emerging genre: Which distinctive features do professional communicators attribute
to it?
Within the framework of a communication course, we asked 89 undergraduate students of informatics
(Ghent University, Belgium) to produce a slidecast, which was the final assignment of their presentation skills
training. The participants had to post the internet link of their slidecast on a forum of the universitys online
learning environment, which made it available to all students and which should convey the idea of a community
of practice to the students.
4. The responses from the educators
The undisputable use of slidecasting for education is of course for the teaching of presentation skills. At
almost any stage in the process of the training of presentation skills this new teaching tool might prove its
success. By bringing the real world into the classroom it could be seen as the culmination of a communication
course, or it might be an appealing online environment in which students can give feedback to their peers,
before they have to perform in front of the total group. In addition to this, slidecasting answers a two-faced
phenomenon that is challenging todays education: personalisation and globalisation. Because you hear the
speakers voice, the slidecast is individualized in a way that many other teaching practices are not capable of.
Slidecasting is also happening in an authentic digital environment, which is open to the whole world. The
students products can be viewed by other students from different countries, business professionals, or just
random people who get intrigued by the content of the slidecast.At this moment it is important to introduce the theory of Kenneth Burke (1897-1993). Summarising the
theoretical framework he developed cannot be restricted to a single paragraph, but here we only want to focus
on the theme of identification he explored. According to Burke, identification plays a central role in rhetoric, and
consequently in life itself. Individuals form selves or identities through various properties or substances, which
include such things as physical objects, occupations, friends, activities, beliefs and values. As they ally
themselves with various properties or substances, they share substance with whatever or whomever they
associate and simultaneously separate themselves from others whom they choose not to identify. [12, p.69]
When Burke formulated this in 1950, some might have discarded his thinking, but Web 2.0 has proven the
vitality of this theory. The profiles on social network websites are carefully constructed tokens of identity: you
associate yourself with what you like and detach yourself from what you dislike. The users from these websites
are also well aware that the readers of their profile will interpret their actions accordingly. Performing an action
in Facebook could therefore be compared to acting on a stage. [7]
Slidecasting embodies all these features of identification. The website will automatically link the studentsslidecasts to other content-related siblings. The students can edit their profile to their preferences, and they
can show their appreciation for a certain slidecast by favouriting it. By doing so they deliberately remove
themselves from other (types of) slidecasts. As they fully realize that there is a (possibly unknown) audience
watching their product and their profile, this process of identification is strenghtened. As a result, a Web 2.0
environment, and slidecasting in particular, will intensify the commitment of the student to the course.
Friendlander and Macdougall already demonstrated that this student involvement is a key factor in student
success. [13] One of their proposed strategies for increasing student involvement in learning included
increasing student participation in out-of class learning activities by linking those activities to specific course
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assignments. Slidecasting is an example of such an out-of-class learning activity, and the theory of Burke
gives a possible clarification of why this process is effective.
5. The responses from the students
5.1. Method
In order to answer the question how students perceived slidecasting, an online survey was created. Webased ourselves on the UTAUT model, that Venkatesh, Morris, Davis and Davis [14] created to understand the
individual acceptance of new information technologies within organisations. UTAUT stands for Unified Theory
of Acceptance and Use of Technology, which combines eight user acceptance models into one unified theory
and uses behavioural intention or behaviour itself as the most important dependent variable.
In the UTAUT model three constructs are seen as significant direct determinants of intention: performance
expectancy (the degree to which an individual believes that using the system will help him or her to attain
gains in job performance), effort expectancy (the degree of ease associated with the use of the system), and
social influence (the degree to which an individual perceives that important others believe he or she would use
the new system). In addition to this, two direct determinants of behaviour are described: behavioural intention
(which Venkatesh et al. do not explicitly define), and facilitating conditions (the degree to which an individual
believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system). Finally, three
other constructs are added to our survey, because they were significant predictors of intention and behaviour inother models: attitude toward behaviour (an individual overall affective reaction to using a system), self-
efficacy (a judgement of ones ability to use a technology to accomplish a particular job or task) and anxiety
(evoking anxious or emotional reactions when it comes to performing a behaviour).
In the UTAUT model, gender, age, experience and voluntariness of use are considered to have only a
moderating influence on the other constructs, which makes it even more interesting for us to integrate this
model into our research as our population is relatively homogeneous concerning these factors. Our group of
students consisted of 7 females and 82 males, and all from the same age group (18-20 years old).
Furthermore, as we conducted this survey at the end of the first term, they should all have the same level of IT
experience by then.
Although Venkatesh et al. focus on the acceptance and usage of information technologies in organisations,
the UTAUT model is able to account for 70 percent of the variance in usage intention, which ensures that this
model can also be applied to other situations. It is even not limited to IT applications, nor does it have to stay
within the boundaries of organisations. For instance, in 2009 Norsila binti Shamsuddin used the UTAUT modelto study how deep students involvement and acceptance towards the adoption of the technology used in
Computer Graphics and Image Processing subjects. [15] This is just one example of the possibility to integrate
this model into research of educational settings.
Unlike other studies, which also made use of the UTAUT model, we did not add any other determinants to
the list of factors. Of course, the original 30 statements were translated from English to Dutch (which is the
language used in the classroom), and they were modified to our specific case study. The scaling for all the
factors was based on five point Likert scaling: from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree). In addition to this
quantitative survey, there was a qualitative part in which we asked our students to give three positive and three
negative aspects about slidecasting. After the deadline of the assignment of the slidecast, this online survey
was available on the digital learning environment, which the students could easily access and are already
familiar with. By the time we sent the questionnaire to our 89 students, already 16 people had stopped taking
the courses of informatics. 56 returned the survey, but 3 students had filled it incompletely and their data had to
be removed from the results. As only 4 females (n=53) took part in the survey, gender aspects will not bediscussed here.
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Table 1. Key figures of the determinants
Determinant Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Mean Std. Error
Performance expectancy 1,00 4,50 2,7075 ,10791 ,78559
Effort expectancy 2,00 5,00 3,9575 ,07846 ,57122Attitude towards using technology 1,25 4,50 2,9387 ,10366 ,75464
Social influence 2,00 4,25 3,2689 ,07465 ,54342
Facilitating conditions 2,75 4,50 3,5094 ,05386 ,39212
Self-efficacy 1,80 4,00 2,7434 ,06970 ,50745
Anxiety 1,00 3,50 2,1557 ,08088 ,58881
5.2. Results
Due to the small sample size we will only focus on two types of analysis: a basic analysis and a correlation
analysis. In our situation, it is impossible to compare different test groups, software programs or different new
information technologies. In our opinion any other analysis would therefore convey us results which would be
difficult to validate for another population.
Table 1 gives an overview of the results of the seven determinants which are scored on a five point Likert
scale. It shows the minimum, maximum, mean and standard deviation of the factors.
The two items which are the most striking are effort expectancy and facilitating conditions. Apparently the
students think that slidecasting is easy to learn and use, although nobody had ever produced a slidecast yet.
Moreover, they are convinced that they were capable of making a quality slidecast, and that all the necessary
resources for this were at their disposal, whereas the educators support was available but quite limited. The
low score of anxiety also indicates that slidecasting is nothing they are afraid of. One student commented on
this: I can imagine that not all students are familiar with this software, but on the other hand, this is the
department of informatics, so...
Table 2 gives an overview of the correlation between the seven determinants.There is a strong positive correlation between attitude towards using technology and performance
expectancy. Appreciating slidecasting entails expecting that slidecasting will prove to be useful in the future.
Furthermore, especially social influence proves to be a strong determinant. A positive between social influence
and performance expectancy, effort expectancy and attitude towards using technology can be discerned. The
social context of an educational setting (colleagues they have befriended, but also the educators) seems to
play important role in the success in the introduction of slidecasting into the course. Finally, there is a negative
correlation between anxiety and effort expectancy. It is quite logical that apprehension of slidecasting would
influence people in how they think how much time and effort they need to spend to be become competent at
slidecasting.
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Table 2. Correlation analysis
In the qualitative part of the survey, students were asked to give three positive three negative features of the
practice of slidecasting. In addition to some prominent technical advantages of slidecasting (such as the ability
to share it with the whole world, and to play it again whenever you like it), they also mention that slidecasting
would make presenting easier for people who become nervous quickly. Apparently, the digital environment of
SlideShare is seen as a safe controllable place without an audience.
On the other hand most students acknowledge that slidecasting misses some key aspects of presenting: for
instance, it doesnt feel like a real presentation, it is difficult to be enthusiastic when presenting, and the
benefits of body language are lost. The aspect that is most referred to is (the lack of) interaction between
speaker and audience. Although most students are more than familiar with the social aspects of Web 2.0
technology, they feel that commenting on a slidecast or asking the producer a question via private messaging
is inferior to real-life interaction. It is interesting to see whether a focus group of professional communicators
would come to the same conclusions.
6. The responses from the professional communicators
6.1. Method
Three weeks after the last student had completed the survey, a focus group of professional communicators
was organized. In this type of research we aimed at finding patterns in the interview data that would
correspond with previous results. Furthermore, we wanted to discover the potential of slidecasting in the
corporate world. The seven participants were all male, 25-35 years old and held positions in companies that
compelled them to deal with communication on a day-to-day basis. Everybody was based in Belgium, except
for one who is in charge of a subsidiary of a Belgian company in the United Arab Emirates. Their functions
focus on marketing, human resources communication, business and technical writing, training, sales and
management. The organisations they are currently working for range from SMEs to multinational companies,
from advertising and communications groups to NATO.A systematic procedure was created to lead the focus group. First, they were asked about their current jobs,
their experience with Web 2.0 in the workfield, and what their definition of an online presentation was.
Secondly, a 10-minute slidecast of one of the students was watched. During this, they were asked to write
down their impressions and make a list of possible positive and negative aspects of slidecasting. The focus
group session was recorded and a transcript of it was completed afterwards. The notes of the participants were
collected too at the end of the session.
Determinant PE EE ATUT SI FC SE A
Performance expectancy (PE) 1,000
Effort expectancy (EE),242 1,000
Attitude towards using technology
(ATUT),764
**,340
*1,000
Social influence (SI) ,531**
,502**
,542**
1,000
Facilitating conditions (FC) -,045 ,200 ,014 ,326*
1,000
Self-efficacy (SE) ,136 ,084 ,174 ,234 ,172 1,000
Anxiety (A) -,323*
-,605**
-,427**
-,366**
-,033 -,269 1,000
** p < 0.01 level
* p < 0.05 level
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Bearing the research question in mind, these transcripts were coded for relevant themes, and these codes
were given a temporary definition. While going through the transcripts these definitions were sometimes
challenged, and eventually larger categories were created in which all codes could be grouped.
6.2. Results
Web 2.0 seems to be a hot topic in their work field. Many managers are fascinated by it, but most
companies seem to hesitate to implement this into their internal and external communication due to a lack ofclear-cut strategies to rely on. If social media are used, it is only in a business-to-consumer context, and never
in a business-to-business situation, or as one of the participants summarized it eloquently: Not a lot of regular
people want to buy a nuclear plant, and I cannot imagine how Web 2.0 could be productive when trying to sell
something like this. Furthermore, confidentiality issues complicate the story. For instance, contrary to the
philosophy behind Web 2.0, the visibility and accessibility of the information are considered to be negative
aspects. Moreover, on a technical level, certain organisations do not even allow video streaming on their
network.
In addition to this, the focus group produced several different definitions of online presentations, but none of
them corresponded with slidecasting. Their top of mind description of online presentations entailed viewing the
speaker, being available to a larger audience than usual and being able to react instantly to what the speaker
is saying, but nobody spontaneously referred to the specific features of slidecasting.
After having watched an example of slidecasting, most participants of the focus group acknowledged thepossibilities of it. There is less chance of misinterpretation of the message because the tone of the voice of the
speaker gives enough clues on how to understand the information. It is also an attractive approach to archiving
your presentations online without first having to adopt any extra IT skills, but particularly, it could lower costs in
certain circumstances, because a presentation can be watched several times for the same cost. On the other
hand, they see a greater number of limitations to its use in the corporate world. Perhaps a corporate speaker,
for instance a CEO, could benefit from it, it might be convenient in a training setting, or perhaps it could be
practical in a multilingual context, but the lack of face-to-face contact is absolutely detrimental to, for instance,
the relation with the customer. Although they accept that visuals surpass text-only communication, they find
slidecasting relatively alienating, it is trying to sound natural in an unnatural situation. Webcasting such as
TED does could be a better option, but especially the absence of live interaction with the speaker annoys them.
Commenting on a slidecast is not a good alternative, because everybody can read these remarks, and this
might give rise to confidentiality conflicts. Moreover, the presentation itself appears to receive all the attention
instead of the speaker whom they regard as the most important factor in a presentation.Concluding, they see slidecasting as an example of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, not as a tool which has
merits on its own. Slidecasting might be integrated into their corporate communication, but only in a very
limited number of situations, and the quality of the slidecast (especially concerning visuals and animation)
should increase significantly. The distinctive features of Web 2.0 (such as sharing, reacting to information and
personalising the internet) are absent at the moment in the Belgian corporate world, and they claim that the
feasibility of introducing these features into their businesses is rather low.
7. Discussion and conclusions
Slidecasting appears to be an attractive new teaching tool, because it combines a Web 2.0 environment with
a product that the students can relate to personally. The concept of the community of practice can be
connected with the typical characteristics of Web 2.0, and the identification process that this brings with it
increases student involvement and therefore student success. Students also acknowledge that producing aslidecast is feasible and they have the necessary facilitating conditions to complete the assignment. It is
important to note that the emotional context plays an important role in the success of slidecasting by students.
There is a clear positive correlation between their attitude towards this new technology and their expectancy to
use slidecasting again in the future. Moreover, the social influence parallels with the students performance
expectancy, effort expectancy, and attitude towards slidecasting. Sufficient attention should thus be given to
the emotional aspects of slidecasting.
The contrast with the results from the focus group of professional communicators is quite revealing.
According to these professionals, slidecasting (and Web 2.0 in general) will reap no success in corporate life.
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They emphasize the importance of the speaker for the presentation, which now tends to be overshadowed by
the content, the PowerPoint presentation and the interface of the website. External factors as confidentiality
and technical limitations also obstruct the current implementation of slidecasting into businesses. At the
moment, slidecasting therefore appears to be very intriguing for educators and forward-thinking
communicators, but not an everyday tool for businessmen.
However, there are certain limitations to this study. This research focuses on the possibilities of slidecasting
in Belgium. Although many of the recommendations and data from this paper could be valid in differentsituations, we can safely claim that there will be cross-cultural differences. For instance, one participant of the
focus group stated that there are major contrasts in the approach of communication between Anglo-Saxon and
Belgian companies, and the student group that took part in our research was almost exclusively male which
flattens out any potential gender differences. It might therefore be interesting to compare the results from this
paper with these from other educational and geographical settings.
8. References
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[2] Tripp, S. D., Theories, Traditions and Situated Learning, Educational technology, vol March, vol. 33, no. 3,
pp. 71-77, March 1993.
[3] Lave, J. and Wenger E., Situated learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991.
[4] Wenger, E., Home page Etienne Wenger, June 2006. [Online]. Available: http://ewenger.com/theory/
[Accessed: February 1, 2010].
[5] Ravenscroft, A., Social Software, Web 2.0 and Learning: Status and Implications of an Evolving
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the pedagogical benefits, Computers and education, vol. 53, no. 2, 2009, pp. 532-539.
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Taichung, Taiwan, 10-12, December 2007
[11] Burke, L. and James, K., PowerPoint-based lectures in business education: an emperical investigation of
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[12] Foss, S., Rhetorical criticism. Exploration & Practice. Long Grove: Waveland Press, 2004.
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[13] Friendlander, J., and Macdougall, P., Achieving Student Success Through Student Involvement,
Community College Review, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 20-28, 1992.
[14] Venkatesh, V., Morris, M., Davis, G., and Davis, F., User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward
A Unified View, MIS Quarterly, vol. 27, no.3, pp. 425-478, 2003.
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Bridging Research and Practice, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin, 2009, pp. 886-893.
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